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]"Parise wants to play for a winner." I love the wild, but NJ is 5th in the East right now.. Why on Gods green earth would he want to be traded to a bubble team if he wants to play for a winner?[/U] The wild have a good looking future, but the future is not now. PLEASE DO NOT TRADE FOR HIM UNLESS WE ARE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE A DEAL BEFORE THE TRADE HAPPENS.. Just wait and play out the FA market. And IF we sign him, don't sign him to a lock down long term deal that handcuffs us in the future. We have a lot of solid prospects coming up and if 2-3 of them turn into studs we want to be able to keep them too..

Zids will be gone (I hope) NO way do we get a top 6 guy for him.. HE HAS ZERO GOALS THIS YEAR!!!! We will be lucky to get a 3rd rounder for him with his Cap hit and low productivity this year.

I say try to sign harding 2-3 years between 1-2.5 mill per. Then try to shop Backstrom.
If we can't move him this year, we will probably be able to at the deadline next year. UNLESS we are in the hunt.. Then we keep him through the season and let him go. That way you have OPTIONS. If you are ready to bring up Hacket you still have Harding. for a couple years. start harding the first year hacket is up, then trade him. Low Cap hit, potential high productivity goallie?? Teams would salivate.

If we fall out of contention trade Zanon. If not keep him for the year unless someone blows our minds in an offer. He is a SOLID roll player and teams that win the cup have versions of him on the roster. He is the only one on ours. we are luck to get a mid round pick for him.

I say trade lundin for a bag of pucks and 1/2 of a broken stick.. (And it doesn't even need to be a full bag maybe just 4 or 5 pucks) He hasn't played much, and thus hasn't shown much.. Teams won't exactly be banging down our doors for him.

I like the Christensen trade. Wellman was becoming burried in our propsect depth. At one point he was our prospect depth, but times have finally changed for the better. It would be better to have him on a team where he can consistently play in the minors rather than be back and fourth here all the time. Christensen can stick in the big team and play a gritty 3rd linner roll and move up or down as needed (Also known as Brodziak insurance). I'm not tickled by the trade, but it makes sense.

Brodziak would actually be solid trade bait if we fall out of contention and determine that is the way we are going to go. Offer him a contract now and if he balks get something in return for him. I like him quite a lot, but we need to continue to think about the future. If he won't sign a moderate price deal for 2-3 years.. Buh bye.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP RIPPING FLETCHER FOR THE LEDDY TRADE!!!!!! Leddy would NOT have the points he has right now if he were on this team!! No way... No how... We traded him and Johnson (that goodness he is gone) for a high 1st rounder and 3 years on his deal.. That was a "change of scenery" move for Barker and obviously it didn't work. Barker SUCKS.. We got hosed. but Leddy is not the puck moving D-man that would put us over the top! How do you think Montreal felt about the gui for puliot trade when gui rocked the Ex for a year.. Hasn't Fletcher made enough solid/good moves in the draft and trades to get us past this? Heatly for Havlat any one?? Please Havlat is crap on a very good team.. Gui and Puliot.. Minus the concussion we ROBBED Them... But they don't even have puliot any more either. Kobesew wasn't a great deal but wasn't bad. Again he was servicable. Burns for Seto, a 1st rounder (phillips) AND Coyle.. I don't care how seto and burns look this year Seto alone was an even swap for Burns when this team can't score at all. but Phillips and Coyle on top of it???

Ok, i think i'm done for now.. Thanks for reading

I want Minny to go after Parise in the offseason, not give anything up for him as a rental.

As for Leddy it was such a poor trade. I have let it go but no one can say it was good, would have rather kept KJ and Leddy and left Barker, we gave up a first round pick for Barker.... Not smart.

We do finally have some depth with talent coming down the pipes so lets hope fletcher decides to hang onto them.

Prosser has quickly become one of my favorite players on the blue line...and not really for "production" reasons:
This Wild team is sorely lacking an "edge" on their defense corps...the kind of nasty, prickly defensemen that opposing forwards HATE having to try to maneuver around, much less try to get in front of the net and get hammered for their trouble.

With the signing of Prosser...and with having Falk and Clayton Stoner, I believe the Wild have a nice trio of just such defenseman.

Hey, it's all well n good to have guys like Staubitz and Kassian be 'enforcers' up front...but really, guys like that only get so many shifts per game, and really don't do anything but hit and fight.....whereas having a defenseman who is "nasty", though not necessarily a "fighter", is more valueable simply because he will get valueable minutes, serve a more meaningful purpose, and are just simply out there a lot more than a fourth line forward enforcer.

Just my opinion, but I liked the Prosser extension. He is only 25 still...and he may never be an elite defenseman, but man, the guy does get involved, and he isn't a bad defender in his own zone at all.
Throw in Falk (24 yrs old), and Stoner (26 yrs old), and you have a nice core of 'tougher' stay-at-home types to complement the speedier puck moving d-men like Spurgeon and Scandella....who by the way, are also quite young, with plenty of upside.

So I am thinking, with the defense in pretty good shape (only some more "seasoning" needed for these young guys), that is why guys like Zlidlicky, Zanon, and even Schultz, could be moved while they still have some value, in order to get some more scoring......Setoguchi will need some help to maximize his abilities, and I am not completely sold on a guy like Heatley being the solution...

we need someone who can score i sure hope some our specs have the scoring touch because it gets tough to watch

Agreed.
WAY too many good defensive and goal tending efforts have gone to waste due to no one being able to put the puck in the net consistently.

Some friends keep saying Granlund and Coyle WILL be on the team next year...and while that does sound exciting and possible, I still have to wonder, unless those guys are cut out of the Sidney Crosby mold, how much of an impact can they reasonably be expected to have in their first years in the NHL.

The Swedish League where Granlund is playing now is no pushover, but still, it is not the NHL...and Coyle is in juniors, and I would think he would benefit from some time in the AHL first.

It would be MUCH easier for those two young players to transition to the NHL if guys like Setoguchi, Heatley, Koivu, and PM Bouchard can stay healthy and be pretty consistent, so as to let them ease into the league....
And also, since I mentioned the "nasty" defensemen types, they will need such defensemen to help out when opposing teams try to take 'liberties" and try to intimidate those young guys.

ya and its going to most likely take a couple years before those guys can become high end players. I mean we have so many similar players like Cullen, PMB, and Koivu. Koivu is a great player no doubt but he doesnt have the scoring touch. These guys are all great playmakers and will put in 15-20 goals but heatley is out of his prime and we need a guy who can put 35-40 goals

Charlie Coyle already has what most guys who come into the NHL as rookies dont have... Size he is 6"2 210 currently. He has started playing with the sea dogs, in 8 games he alreayd has 10 points, Zack Phillips of the sea dogs is also doing quite well with 67 points in 48 games. Granlund is doing well. As expected. Ill be interested on Johan Larsson to see how he is progressing. and brodin should be the stay at home defesemen who in consistent. So if we have all these guys playing with us in the next 2 years id have to say we should be looking alright. Just need to sign Parise

ya I could see that i wouldnt expect coyle and phillips to be putting up big points in 2 years though. Granlund i hope so badly he pans out to be great. Another game last night where we couldn't score a goal suprise suprise lol

Wild need some net crashers.
That's why I suggested someone like a Ryan Malone at the deadline. I realize he is injury prone, but that's because of his very physical style. He sticks up for teammates, is always in the opposing goalie's faces, and he just uses his body as your basic missle.

The Wild really don't have anyone right now who can, or is willing, to crash the net on a regular basis. And when the "pretty" goals aren't being scored (and they aren't), and when the perimeter shots are being blocked off (and they are), you simply need a body or two to rush the net, get deflections, cheap goals, dirty goals, garbage goals....whatever you want to call them.

Take a team like St. Louis for instance: They have a great defense, as does the Wild actually...and they don't score a ton of goals either...but what they do that Minnesota doesn't is crash the net, and get garbage goals all game long if need be. Same deal with a team like Nashville, and even LA (although those guys SHOULD be scoring other ways, yet inexplicably, don't).

Also, it just seems to me Minnesota has too many of the same "types" of players....for instance, Cullen and Brodziak (checking type forwards with some, though not great scoring ability), Zanon and Zlidlicky (two puck movers who really aren't contributing to the offense).

Without the diversity, teams can key in on Minnesota using simpler strategies, and keep the Wild off the scoreboard much easier than if they had to deal with different types of players.

Minny DOES have valuable players they can trade and improve themselves with....but for this season, it may be too little too late.
They may be better off using the final 20 or so games of the season as an advanced "training camp" and start weeding out guys they don't want on their team for next year now. Good returns can be had for guys like Zanon, Zlidlicky, Brodziak or Cullen, and I even suggested Josh Harding as well.

I feel like we have a decent amount of players who crash the net in powe, clutterbuck, brodziak (slightly), johnson. We have grinders we imo just dont have guys who are shoot first guys other than heatley. Setoguchi does a fair amount but he needs to more. Koivu, Cullen, PMB are all guys who like to set up others. IMO the thing that hurts us is the loss of Latendresse. He is a gritty guy who has a knack for the net and finds ways to put goals in

Wild need some net crashers.
That's why I suggested someone like a Ryan Malone at the deadline. I realize he is injury prone, but that's because of his very physical style. He sticks up for teammates, is always in the opposing goalie's faces, and he just uses his body as your basic missle.

The Wild really don't have anyone right now who can, or is willing, to crash the net on a regular basis. And when the "pretty" goals aren't being scored (and they aren't), and when the perimeter shots are being blocked off (and they are), you simply need a body or two to rush the net, get deflections, cheap goals, dirty goals, garbage goals....whatever you want to call them.

Take a team like St. Louis for instance: They have a great defense, as does the Wild actually...and they don't score a ton of goals either...but what they do that Minnesota doesn't is crash the net, and get garbage goals all game long if need be. Same deal with a team like Nashville, and even LA (although those guys SHOULD be scoring other ways, yet inexplicably, don't).

Also, it just seems to me Minnesota has too many of the same "types" of players....for instance, Cullen and Brodziak (checking type forwards with some, though not great scoring ability), Zanon and Zlidlicky (two puck movers who really aren't contributing to the offense).

Without the diversity, teams can key in on Minnesota using simpler strategies, and keep the Wild off the scoreboard much easier than if they had to deal with different types of players.

Minny DOES have valuable players they can trade and improve themselves with....but for this season, it may be too little too late.
They may be better off using the final 20 or so games of the season as an advanced "training camp" and start weeding out guys they don't want on their team for next year now. Good returns can be had for guys like Zanon, Zlidlicky, Brodziak or Cullen, and I even suggested Josh Harding as well.

Ive bolded the statements that dont make sense. Net crashers? This team is full of them. Brodziak, Johnson, Clutterbuck and all of our AHL players crash the net. Seto has even been considered in the "power forward" mold. I mean the guy is big. Add on that Bulmer, Coyle and Zucker who are big prospects (Coyle is huge). Thats not what we need, we need skilled players.

Ryan Malone is the worst idea period. I mean, we would waste valuable cap space that will help a building team. And his contract isnt short. Terrible terrible idea. Not to mention they would ask for a top flight prospect or our first round draft pick. For an injury prone over paid player? No way.

Cullen is not a checking type forward. He's a skilled hard working zone player. but not a checker. I mean his career high in hits is about half of what a player like Clutterbuck does in a season. Zanon has never and will never be a puck mover. He has always been a hard working shot blocker. Harding's trade value is so low, his last couple of outing have been horrendous. He's older, has not proven he is a starter and had two years of injury in a row and more than one problem (hip, knee, shoulder). Think about it if a team wants goaltending for the future (Think TB) why would they give up one of their top prospects or picks for Harding when they could trade a similar package for Bernier or Schneider? Zanon (6.0C-7.0C) would net us a 4th rounder or equivalent, Zid (6.0B or 7.0C prospect) would net us a 3rd round or equivalent, Brodziak would net us something ok and Cullen is somewhere around Zid value. There is nothing really of value on our team outside of our prospects, Koivu, Seto, Schultz and Clutterbuck. Heatley's is low and Backstrom's is low and the other players are easy for a team to find without trading for them.

These "types" of players as you say, every team is full of them. Hence why they have no trade value. We just need to keep drafting well and growing the right way. We were good in the beginning because of coaching, Gaborik and a good entry draft. We are finally becoming a healthy team with prospoects coming up and being replaced and soon we will be a good franchise. But the time just isnt now

I cannot believe how bad Latendresse has been struck with injuries, I doublt we re-sign him after this year. To your point PineApple do we wait and see if Coyle is that presence or do we go after someone?

ya like i said missing him is the worst other than when koivu has been hurt. Latendresse can score and is quite gritty. I wouldn't be opposed to moving Coyle for a top 6 forward. Obviously we may have to add a little to that but with guys like Granlund and Zucker comin there will only be so many spots